A $950 MILLION affordable housing bond has helped build thousands of affordable homes across Santa Clara County, though its efforts have focused on some parts of the region more than others.
Measure A, passed by voters in 2016, has helped fund the construction of 5,135 new homes and smashed the county’s goal of 4,800 in 10 years. The vast majority of those homes are in San Jose — the county’s largest city with 969,655 residents. Although officials have celebrated Measure A’s success, the region’s cost of living has continued to increase, making building and preserving affordable housing even more critical.
“We consider the implementation of Measure A one of the most successful housing bond implementations in the state,” Deputy County Executive Consuelo Hernandez told San José Spotlight.
Of the $950 million, $690.8 million of Measure A’s funds has been allocated.
Silicon Valley is one of the nation’s most expensive places to live, with exorbitant prices to rent or buy homes and the most expensive utilities. Reports have found someone working minimum wage needs four jobs to just meet Silicon Valley’s cost of living. Creating more affordable housing is one way local officials hope to tackle the problem.
Measure A funds have been applied toward 56 projects across 10 cities. On top of building new homes, Measure A dollars also went toward the renovation of 689 existing affordable homes to help preserve the county’s housing stock.
San Jose has received about $384 million to build or renovate 3,542 affordable homes across 34 projects. Santa Clara is the second largest recipient of Measure A funds, receiving about $86 million to build 618 affordable homes.
Five municipalities in Santa Clara County receive no funds from Measure A: Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Los Altos Hills and Monte Sereno. Other than Los Altos, these are five of the county’s smallest municipalities by population.
Hernandez attributed part of Measure A’s success to the county’s partnerships with city governments and developers to prioritize projects that are competitive for funding, and to create production goals for cities. Those include each city’s state housing requirements and results from the county’s homeless census and point-in-time count of unhoused residents.
Hernandez said the county worked with various communities to identify potential recipients, with a focus on projects that were ready for construction.
“Not every city or town has been able to identify a viable project in their community, but the county continues to work with cities that do not have a Measure A-funded project in their community,” Hernandez said.
California requires every city and town to build some affordable housing by 2031, though none are on track to hit their state-mandated goals.
The vast majority of Measure A funds went to projects in San Jose, but the average investment per home has been highest in Milpitas. While the city received $65.5 million across three projects, almost half went toward the Hillview Court project, which renovated a motel into a 134-apartment complex for homeless residents or people at-risk of homelessness.
Affordable housing development can be expensive. San Jose has 13 housing projects on a waitlist to receive money from the city’s own housing bond, Measure E, which continues to be redirected toward short-term homelessness support programs. Other cities have been finding creative ways to help fund affordable housing, like buying the land for those developments.
SV@Home Director of Policy Alison Cingolani said some cities are better prepared or more willing to work with the county than others, which has affected how Measure A funds have been allocated. For example, Mountain View had more space zoned for multi-family purposes, which is the zoning designation for most affordable housing projects. The city has received nearly $13 million from Measure A across six projects, coming out to an average of $950 from Measure A per capita.
“It’s going to require active engagement on the part of the cities and the county, and cities will see this investment,” Cingolani told San José Spotlight. “The county has an excellent track record of partnering with cities that are willing to partner.”
While Measure A has been successful at building and preserving affordable housing, Cingolani said the region needs much more to keep up with rising cost of living.
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority considered putting a $20 billion affordable housing bond across the nine Bay Area counties on the November ballot, but pulled it at the last minute. Cingolani said there may be a bond measure in the future, either countywide or regionally.
“Measure A was a resounding success, it just wasn’t enough,” Cingolani told San José Spotlight. “When the problem is a structural problem, there is not any one solution that’s going to be a quick fix. It’s going to take a lot of us working together.”
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at sakura@sanjosespotlight.com or @SakuCannestra on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.